1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water separator, which comprises bundles of laminations, for drying wet vapor, with subsequent superheating of the dried vapor. The water separator is coaxially disposed ahead of a superheater in a horizontal, cylindrical tank which has at least one vapor inlet and one vapor outlet. The superheater comprises tube bundles which are uniformly disposed about the central axis of the tank, and can vary in number and type of construction. In the direction of the central axis of the tank, the water separator has the shape of a truncated pyramid or cone.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Water separators of bundles of laminations for drying wet vapor, and the subsequent superheating of the dried vapor, is known. With one heretofore known type of construction, the water separator elements and the superheater elements are concentrically disposed over the entire length of the common horizontal tank. Procedural drawbacks arise with this arrangement to the extent that the wet vapor must be guided over the entire length of the tank, thus giving rise to the danger of corrosion along the inner surface of the tank walls. This drawback can only be prevented by the expensive procedure of plating the inner surface of the pressure wall, or by the utilization of a high-grade material. Due to the concentric arrangement, and as a result of localized temperature differences, the tank wall is nonuniformly thermally stressed, which, among other things, makes it necessary to install expensive and complicated sealing arrangements.
Further criteria are the factors that the length of the superheater elements also directly affects the length of the separator, and that the arrangement of the water separator and the superheater in the horizontal, cylindrical tank also will involve different structural requirements than do those in vertical tanks.
These problems are mainly avoided or taken into account with a successive arrangement in the direction of the central axis of the tank.
Pursuant to the disclosure of German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2933325.3, the bundles of lamination of the water separator are disposed in a horizontal tank in such a way that the wet vapor is no longer guided along the wall of the tank. The arrangement of the individual bundles is such that the crossectional area of entry, as viewed in the direction of flow, decreases toward the back bundles. Thus, a preliminary distribution and an equalization on the entry side, and an open exit cross-sectional area toward the back, is realized. The speed of the vapor ahead of and after the separator remains nearly constant, and the pressure loss is reduced.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2901272.4 discloses guiding the wet vapor into a chamber which is enclosed on all sides, with the side walls, and possibly also the end wall, preferably comprising aligned bundles of angular laminations which are disposed parallel to one another and which can additionally be provided with collecting troughs.
A combination of the aforementioned arrangements is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,010-Chlique, dated December 2, 1975. According to this patent, the wet vapor enters a chamber which tapers in the manner of a wedge, with aligned separator elements being disposed in the wedge surfaces.
A drawback to this type of construction is that with a view toward avoiding corrosion damage on the tank wall due to incompletely dried vapor, or with a view toward a high degree of separation in the water separator at the predetermined diameter in conjunction with the elements of the subsequent superheater, an uneconomical and unfavorable structure and length of the separator and of the tank result.
An object of the present invention therefore is to arrange the bundles of laminations of the water separator of the aforementioned general type in such a way that a high degree of separation is achieved due to uniform exposure of the bundles of laminations of the water separator with wet vapor, and that an economical, favorable structure and an overall very high energy efficiency is achieved in conjunction with the subsequent tube elements of the superheater.